Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Cash is Not Trash

I've previously blogged about found items while running. I've never found any cash, but have found plenty of rubber bungee cords, beer, and porn.

Plus a humongous combination wrench (1 1/2" or maybe even 2"), found near the C + O Canal in MD, which I carried for over a mile, knowing I would give it to the maintenance guys at Fort Frederick State Park. Turns out it actually belonged to one of the guys.

Anyway, here's an offbeat story in this general topic, courtesy of my brother out in northern CA:

A kind driver whose money fell to the ground while trying
to donate it to a panhandler will not face a $344 littering citation. A
Cleveland prosecutor decided that "Cash is Not Trash." This decision
will be good news to all those who like money, or who value the giving and
receiving of charitable donations. It also is heartening to see that common
sense still has a place in the legal system.

Many communities, including Eureka and Arcata,
California, are discussing or have enacted local ordinances to limit panhandling
and to restrict the "Occupy" movement. Panhandling and
"Occupy" are not the same, obviously, but both tend to ignite class
conflict in the USA today. By now, we all have heard of the 1% versus the 99%. However,
it seems unwise to use the legal system against lower socio-economic classes.

For a
few citizens, cash is like trash, as in the phrase "disposable"
income. But, for many Americans, "Cash is Not Trash," especially when
you don't enough money for food, housing, clothes, and medical care. The courts
are
unlikely to sort out this discrepancy.